For the economy, this is disappointing as more jobs are created
when companies use their cash to invest in the form of research
and development (R&D) and capital expenditures, which include
spending for growth and maintenance.

All of this has been happening during a time when the Federal
Reserve has kept monetary policy very loose and interest rates
very low in its effort to stimulate growth.

The question is: how much of this new cheap debt is being used to
finance stock buybacks? Because that would mean the Fed has
effectively enabled financial engineering that's enriching folks
in the stock market.

It turns out not to be that much.

"Over the last 12 months, 27% of repurchases have been at least
partially funded by issuing new debt," observed JPMorgan's
Dubravko Lakos-Bujas. "While this portion is elevated, stock
buybacks remain overwhelmingly funded with internally generated
funds rather than debt (net debt as % of total assets is near
record lows)."

JPMorgan

According to Lakos-Bujas, S&P 500 companies have announced
238 new buyback authorizations since the beginning of the year,
with a dollar volume of $553 billion. This puts buyback
announcements on track for a record year run rate of $666
billion, the highest since the $690 billion level hit in 2007.